NEGA  TIVE 


NO.  93-81 


) 


02-7 


MICROFILMED  1993 
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Al 


•*  U'   '    *; 


Lcrr 


LL,  ALBFRT 


J[  M  M.  M.^M^.^ 


SECRECY? 


K  Ld/\  \^  KL  « 


[PROVIDENCE 


i,-V..^.  ■<■ 


I 


I.?] 


DA  rf"; 


1900 


Master  Negative  it 


COLUMBIA  UNIA/ERSITY  LIBRARIES 
PRESERVATION  DEPARTMENT 


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DIDLIOGRAPHIC  MICROFORM  TARHFT 


Original  Material  as  Pilined  -  Existing  Bibliographic  Record 


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Loffinc^vell,  Albert,   1845-1916. 

Does  Gcienco  need  secrecy?  by  Albert  Loffing-^ 
well...  with  statement  concerning  vivisection  by 
Prof.  \I.  T.  Porter/ ^3d  ed.  Pr  evidence?  3.  Aiaeri- 
oan  hiuiuine  association,   1900. 

Reprinted  from  the  Boston  transcript. 
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BY   fiPPLIED   IMfiGE,     INC. 


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iio  ^ 


FIFTEENTH    THOUSAND 


Does  Science  Need  Secrecy? 


BY 


ALBERT  LEFFINGWELL,   M.  D. 


WITH  STATEMENT 


CONCERNING  VIVISECTION  BY  PROF.   W.    T.   PORTER, 


REPRINTED  FROM  THE  "  BOSTON    TRANSCRIPT." 


/ 


POINTED   FOR 

TUK  AMERICAN  HUMANE  ASSOCIATION. 

1900. 


f  JC  -•.      _  ~^  •• 


S_^         ^  'r^~^-^ 


W.' 


C       *  'S.'^"  "^  '^ 


FIFTEENTH    THOUSAND 


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Does  Science  Need  Secrecy? 


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1    -it  ■ 


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«>.  -,'■/'■ '  '3  -,V'J 


■J' 


BY 


ALBERT   LEFFINGWELL,   M.  D. 


WITH   STATEMENT 


CONCERNING  VIVISECTION   BY   PROF.   W.    T.    PORTER, 


REPRINTED  FROM   THE  "  BOSTON    TRANSCRIPT. 


PRINTED    FOR 

THE  AMERICAN   HUMANE   ASSOCIATION 

1900. 


INTRODUCTION. 


A  third  edition  of  this  pamphlet  having  been  called  for, 
bringing  its  circulation  up  to  fifteen  thousand,  an  opportunity 
is  afforded  for  a  brief  introduction. 

The  discerning  reader  cannot  fail  to  note  the  only  purpose 
of  this  essay.  Iii  no  sense  is  it  intended  as  a  discussion  of 
the  ethics  of  vivisection  or  as  a  denunciation  of  cruelty.  It 
is  siiTinlv  .1  chailenore.  It  denies  that  a  certain  manifesto, 
put  forth  by  six  of  tiie  leadin^^  vivisectors  ot  ilarvaru  Lni- 
versity.  was, -- what  it  claimed  to  be,  —  "  a  piain  statement 
of  the  whole  truth/'  These  eminent  scientists,  allirmed  ul 
painful  vivisections  that  ''  such  investigations  are  rare;  none 
such  have  been  made  in  Harvard  Medical  School  within  our 
knowledo-e."  That  assertion  was  either  true  or  false.  To 
prove  its  untruth  ;  to  demonstrate  beyond  question  that 
ts  causing  some  degree  of  pain, -and  occasionally 


experimen 


-olonged  pain 


aac 


be 


en  pe 


rformed  bv  some  of  the  verv 


men  who  were  responsible  for  that   most  astoun 


ti  1  n 


asse 


tion,  was 


the  principal  object  of  the  following  pages.     The 


1 2"  m  a 


experiments  in  question  might  have  been  free  from  any  st 
of  cruelty  ;  they  might  have  been  entirely  justifiable  ;  but 
that  was  not  the  point  at  issue.  A  deliberate  statement  was 
made  to  the  public  that  //^;/^?/;///// vivisections  had  been  per- 


formed in  the  Harva 


rd  ?^Iedical  School  ;    and  that  statement 


was 


fal 


se. 


When    this   challenge  of    accuracy  tirst    appeared   in    the 
f     The    Boston    Transcript,  it  was  confidently   ex- 


columns    o 


pe 


cted  bv  nianv 


friends  of   the  institution  that  some  expla 


n- 


/ 


4 


Does  Science  Need  Secrecy  f 


luse  n'n{)Hc:iicu  id 


atioii  would  speediiy  be  fortncuin!n_.  i[V)m  ti 
puttmr;  forth  that  surprising  manifesto,  Ikit  days  and  weeks 
went  by  without  a  sign  ,  and  ni  all  the  years  that  have  since 
elapsed,  no  replv  has  ever  been  made.  No  one  of  these  dis- 
tinguished scientists  iias  since  come  forward,  aijain  to  affirm 
of  his  statement  that  it  w^as  " ///c  zv/wli  //v////,"  or  of  painful 
vivisections  that  '' none  such  have  been  made  in  the  Har- 
vard Medical  Schoo    within  our  knowdedge." 

it  is  a  somewhat  significant  fact  that  so  far  as  known,  the 
only  allusion   to  this  pamphlet  which   any  one  of  them   has 
ventured  to  make,  merely  serves  to  illustrate  the  theory  that 
the  habitual  practice  of  vivisection  dulls  the  sense  of  accu- 
rate perception  and  the  capacity  for  stating  facts.     In  notes 
to  a  published  address  delivered    in  1896  before  the  annual 
meeting  of    the  Massachusetts   Medical  Society,  Dr.  Henry 
P.    Bowditch    makes  a  brief    reference  to   the  experiments 
noted  on  page   19    of   this  pamphlet.       After    insisting    that 
certain  prolonged  electrical  stimulation    "could  not  by  any 
possibility  have  been   accompanied    by  any    sensation,"    he 
adds  : 

''Even  Dr.  Lerfingwel],a  writer  who  is  compatively  reason- 
able in  his  opposition  to  vivisection,  in  a  recently  published 
pamphlet  entitled  "Does  science  need  secrecy?"  cites  these 
experiments  as  evidence  of  cruelty  practised' in  the  Harvard 
Medical  School.'' 

The  reader  of  these  pages  will  look  in  vain  for  any  proof 
of  this  charge.  Where,  in  this  pamphlet,  are  the  experiments 
of  Prof.  Bowditch  cited  '-as  evidence  of  cruelty.?"  The 
Harvard  professor  of  physiology  had  declared  with  some  of 
his  associates,  that  "painful  vivisections"  were  rare,  and 
''  no)ie  such"  had  been  performed  in  their  laboratories. 
Was  that  the  truth  .^  This  is  the  principal  question  touched. 
Professor  Bowditch  insists  that  his  "  stimulation  "  could  not 
have  occasioned  anv  sensation.      What  of  that  .^     To  select 


Does  Science  Need  Secrecy  f 


5 


one  part  of  an  experiment  and  to  insist  on  its  painlessness, 
—  ignoring  all  the  rest, —  is  certainly  a  very  questionable 
method  of  deferisc.  To  take  some  seventv'  animals,  chosen 
especially  tor  vigor  and  tenacity  of  life,  so  that  experiments 

rnighl  "extend  over  several  liours  : "'  to  achiiinister  r//;r?;r  so 
that  after  recovery  from  tiie  aiutsthesia,  (  under  wdiich  the 
initial  cuttinij  oneration  was  made,  )  iiie\'  would  be  incapable 
of  the  sliirhtest  movement  ;  to  make  one  cut  in  the  throat, 
and  another  across  the  sciatic  nerve;  to  experiment  upon 
some  of  them  for  hours,  the  head  immovably  fastened  in  a 
rabbitdiolder,  while  others  are  allowed  "to  recover  from  the 
effect  of  the  ether,  and  the  experiment  postponed  for  some 
(^lays;"  —  and  then  to  declare  that  all  these  wounds,  these 
severed  nerves,  these  manipulations,  these  delays  for  days, 
this  artificial  respiration  and  immovable  position  occasioned  no 
painful  sensations  in  any  of  these  creatures,  —  w^as  doubtless 
beyond  the  audacity  even  of  a  professional  vivisector  directly 
to  assert.  To  ascribe  to  an  opponent  statements  tbait  he 
never  made,  and  then  to  refute  them.  — leaving  wholly  un- 
touched the  real  issue,  the  only  charge,  —  this  woulc  be 
stranire,  were  it  not  in  accord  watli  the  methods  ot  that  |)^eudo- 
science,  which  to-dav  iiesitates  at  no  trick  of  cunning 
evasion,  if  only  thereby  its  practices  and  principles  m:i\-  be 
concealed  from  the  public  eye. 

The  following  essay  does  not  touch  upon  all  tlie  misstate- 
ments  of  the  Harvard  manifesto,  and  some  brief  n^tes  of 
interrogation  and  comment  may  suggest  to  the  reader  tlie 
value  of  further  incjuiry  and  further  d<)ubt. 

A 


I 

i  J. 


» 


DOES  SLlLNLfc   M: 


I 4_>' 


X 


D  i: 


^ 


^  t:  L.  K  h  I V  " 


A  -EPlY  TC  professor  PORTlk 


BY 


ALBERT    LEFFINI^WELL,    M.   13. 
Fornic'ri\    liiMiuctur  m    i'hysiology,    Polytechnic   Institute,  Brooklyn.  N.  ^^ 


To  what  extent  can  scientific  authority  be  implicitly  re- 
ceived as  the  foundation  of  belief  regarding  the  subject  of 
Vivisection  ?  It  is  certain  that  for  the  great  majority  of 
men  and  women,  all  statements  concerning  it  are  wholly 
beyond  the  possibility  of  verification  by  personal  experience. 
Regarding  its  extent  or  its  methods,  its  pain  or  painlessness, 
its ''utility  to  humanity  or  its  liability  to  abuse,  the  world 
bases  its  judgment,  not  upon  knowledge,  but  upon  faith  m 
the  accuracy,  the  impartiality,  the  sincerity  of  the  men  who, 
standing  within  the  temple  of  science,  know  with  certainty 
the  facts.  One  might  suppose  that  here  was  the  welcome 
-tunity  to  demonstrate  that  science  can  have  nothing  to 
al  ;  that  her  symbol  is  a  torch  and  not  a  veil  ;  an 


that 


stands 


oppo 

conce 

above  all  professional  preference  and  all  partisan  zeai 

fidelity  to  accuracy,  and  the  love  of  absolute  truth. 

Nevertheless,    it   is   my  purpose   in   this  paper  to  question 
the  wisdom  of  too  implicit  faith  ;  to  suggest  the  expediency 


o 


f  doubt  ;  and  to  poin 


t  out  whv  statements  which  may  have 


the  supp 


ort  of  hiirh  scien 


tific  authorities,  should  sometimes 


be  receive 


d  with  o;reat  caution  and  careful  discrimination. 


And   vet    I    canno 


t    see    the  slightest   reason   why  every 


thine:   that  concerns  a 


scientific   method    or   purpose   should 


rhe  substance  of  this  arti 


cle  was  read  before  ihc  A 


H 


nanc 


Association,  Minneapolis,  September  26,  1S95,  an 


nnual  Meeting  o!   liie  American 
d  was  printed  in  the  Boston 


J'ranscript,  September  28,  1S95. 


8 


Does  Sciefice  Need  Secrecy  f 


^''t  DC  plainly  and  accurately  set  f.^rth.  Generally  tiiis  is 
the  case.  If  a  new  telescojie  iA  unusual  power  is  desireu  i)y 
a  university,  Weaith  is  nr.t  asked  to  -ive  it  in  order  tiiat 
wealth  may  be  increased  by  lunar  discoveries.  When  an 
astronomical  station  is  established  on  the  Andes,  or  an 
expedition  fitted  out  for  the  \orth  Pole,  we  ail  know  tiiat 
science  only  will  be  the  -ainer  — not  commerce  or  art.  The 
one  exception  to  an  almost  universal  rule,  the  one  point  where 
truth  is  veiled  m  obscurity  for  the  public  eye,  is  when  we 
come  to  the  vivisection  of  animals.  Everywhere  else  science 
seems  mindful  of  her  mission,  and  asks' only  that  with  in- 
creasing radiance  the  light  may  shine. 

Why  should   vivisection   offer  an   exception   to  this  ideal  ? 
That  it  seems  impossible  to  tell  the  whole  truth  about  it  is 
evident  to  every  person  who   understands   the  facts.     The 
London  Lancet,   for  example,  recently  praised  a  biography 
by  Prof.  Mosso,  in  which  that   Italian  physiologist  —  as  the 
Z^;/^^/ remarked,  '^wisely''  said,  — "It  is  an  error  to  believe 
that  experiments  can  be  performed  on  an  animal  which  feels." 
A  few  weeks  ago  Prefessor  Mosso  sent  me  a  manuscript  copy 
of  this  same  essay,  in  which  the  sentence  appears  in  slightly 
different  form  :    "  It  is  an  error  to  think  that  one  can  ex^'peri- 
ment  on  animals  that  have  not  lost  sensation  ;  the  disturbance 
produced  by  pain  in  the  organism  of  the  animal  is  so  great 
that  it  renders  useless  any  observations."     Now  here  is  the 
utterance  of  a  man  of  science,  trained  in  the  accuracy  of  the 
laboratory,  occupying  one  of  the  foremost  positions  inliurope 
as  a  physiologist,  and   his  words,  stamped   with  the  approval 
of  the  leading  Medical  journal  of  P:ngland,  may  presently  be 
floating  through   the  American  press.      How  is  the  average 
reader  to  question  a  statement  like  this.?     Nevertheless,''it 
is  absolutely  untrue.      One  can  perform  experiments  "on  an 
animal  which  feels  ;  "  they  have  been  done  by  the  thousand 
by   Bernard,    Magendie,    Mantagazza,    Brown-Sequard,   and 
others;  I    have   seen   scores  of  these  myself.     No  more  un- 
scientific sentence  was  ever  written  than  this  statement  that 
one  cannot  do  what  is   done  every  day  !     What   the   Italian 
physiologist  might  truthfully  have  written  was  this;   "It  is 


Does  Science  Need  Secrecy  ?  9 

an  error  to  believe  that  physiological  experiments,  requiring 
the  aid   of  delicate  instruments,  can   be  performed   upon  an 

anniial  which  is  not  made  !nca!)a!)le  oi  nui^^cuiar  effort."  If 
he  l.ad  then  gone  on  to  say  to  wduit  extent  lie  effects  this  by 
means  of  anaesthetics,  to  what  extent  i)\'  the  use  of  narcotics, 
and  to  what  extent  the  poison  of  curare  is  administered  to 
paralvze  the  motor  nerves,  leaving  sensibility  l')  n.iin  un- 
touched, we  miirht  have  liad  a  scientific  statement  (d  tact. 
As  it  is,  we  have —  v/hat  .^  An  untruth  (lue  to  ignorance.? 
•  An  error  due  to  carelessness  .^  I  do  not  know.  Perhaps 
the  physiologist  was  thinking  too  intently  of  his  own  special 
lines  of  inquiry  to  note  the  significance  of  his  words  ;  luit 
what  shall  we  say  of  a  great  scientific  journal  of  P2ngland 
which  could  quote  the  untruth  as  "  :c'/Vr/i' "  said  .^  Is  even 
verbal  inaccuracy  "  wise"  where  science  is  concerned  .' 

There  was  recently  given  out  by  Dr.  William  Townsend 
I^orter,  the  assistant  professor  of  physiology  in  Harvard 
Medical  School  at  Boston,  one  of  the  most  astonishing  state- 
ments concerning  vivisection  that  ever  appeared  in  public 
I)rint.  The  accuracy  of  Dr.  Porter's  statement  was  vouched 
for  by  five  other  leading  professors  in  the  same  institution  — 
Drs.  Henry  P.  Bowditch,  \\\  T.  Councilman,  W.  ¥.  Whit- 
ney, C.  S.  Minot  and  H.  C.  Ernst  ;  men  whose  scientific  rep- 
utation has  imparted  to  their  affirmations  an  immense  au- 
thority throughout  the  country.  They  put  forth  what  they 
asserted  was  a  ''  plain  statement  of  the  whole  truth  "  con- 
cerning experiments  on  living  animals.  He,  perhaps,  is  a 
rash  man  who  ventures  to  question  any  assertion  supported 
by  names  like  these.  But  it  is  the  duty  of  every  lover  of 
scientific  truth  to  point  out  errors  wherever  he  may  find  them, 
no  matter  how  shielded  by  authority  or  intrenched  by  public 
opinion;  and  I  propose,  therefore,  to  make  use  of  this  pro- 
fessional manifesto  as  an  illustration  of  the  fallibility  of  even 
the  highest  scientific  expert  testimony.  I  think  it  can  be 
proven  that  although  this  declaration  rests  on  such  high  au- 
thority, it  is  nevertheless  permeated  with  mis-statement  and 
error;  that  certain  assertions  have  been  made  without  due 
authority,  and  certain  facts  of  pith  and   moment  most   singu- 


10 


Does  Science   Need  Secrecy  f 


larly  omitted,  or  most  carelessly  overlooked.  And  if  tull 
reliance  cannot  be  ^iven  to  assertions  made  bv  men  of  the 
highest  fame,  then  the  whole  question  is  as  far  as  ever  from 
{)ermanent  settlement. 

I.  In  the  first  place  Professor  Porter  does  not  well  when 
he  denies  (as  he  seems  to  do)  that  the  practice  of  experi- 
mentation upon  livin£i:  animals  has  ever  led  to  abuse. 
"The  cruelties  |)racticed  by  vivisectors  are  paraded  in  long 
lists,  with  the  assurance  that  they  are  taken  directly  from 
the  published  wTitings  of  the  vivisectors  themselves."  Well, 
is  this  assurance  untrue.'^  "These  long-drawn  lists  of 
atrocities  that  never  existed,'' — can  these  be  the  words  of  a 
devotee  of  scientific  truth  }  What  does  Professor  Porter 
mean  by  them  ^  What  other  meaning  is  possible  for  the 
average  reader  to  obtain  than  that  he  intended  to  deny  that 
atrocious  experiments  were  anything  but  a  myth  ?  "  Never 
existed  ^  "  W^hy,  both  in  Europe  and  America,  but  especially 
abroad,  I  have  personally  seen  most  awful  cruelty  inflicted 
upon  living  animals,  simply  for  the  purpose  of  illustrating 
well-known  facts  or  theories  that  had  not  the  faintest  con- 
ceivable relation  to  the  treatment  and  cure  of  disease.  No 
facts  of  history  are  capable  of  more  certain  verification  than 
the  tortures  which  have  marked  the  vivisections  of  Magen- 
die  and  Bernard,  of  Bert  and  Mantagazza,  and  of  a  host  of 
their  imitators.  "  It  is  not  to  be  doubted  that  inhumanity 
may  be  found  in  persons  of  very  high  position  as  physiol- 
ogists ;  we  have  seen  that  it  was  so  in  Magendie."  This  is 
the  language  of  the  report  on  vivisection  by  a  royal  commis- 
sion, to  which  is  attached  the  name  of  Professor  Thomas  H. 
Huxley.  Says  Dr.  Eliotson,  in  his  work  on  Human  Phy- 
siology (p.  448),  *'  I  cannot  refrain  from  expressing  my 
horror  at  the  amount  of  torture  which  Dr.  Brachet  inflicted. 
I  Jiardly  think  knozvledge  is  zuorth  having  at  siicJi  a  purcJiase!' 
But  take  American  testimony  on  this  point.  Dr.  Henry  J. 
Bigelow,  for  many  years  the  professor  of  surgery  in  Harvard 
Medical  School,  of  whom  Dr.  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes  has 
said,  that  he  was  "one  of  the  first,  if  not  the  first,  of  Amer- 
ican sur2:eons,"    crave  the  annual  address  before  the    Massa- 


Does  Science  Need  Secrecy  ? 


II 


chusctts  Meciical  Society  a  few  \-ears  ago.  Therein  iiC  called 
attention  to  tiie  ''dreadtai  sufferings  ot  dumb  animals,  the 
coid-blooded  crneities  \\o\M  more  and  more  practiced  under  the 
authority  of  science  !  .  .  .  Watch  the  students  at  a 
vivisection.  It  is  the  blood  and  suffering,  not  the  science 
that  rivets  their  breathless  attention.  .  .  .  It  is  dread- 
ful to  think  how  many  poor  animals  will  be  subjected  to  ex- 
cruciatins:  aironv  as  one  medical  college  after  another  be- 
comes  penetrated  with  the  idea  that  vivisection  is  a  part  of 
modern  teaching  ;  that  to  hold  way  with  other  institutions 
they,  too,  must  have  their  vivisector,  their  mutilated  dogs, 
their  chamber  of  horrors  and  torture  to  advertise  as  a  labora- 
tory." Does  anyone  imagine  that  Dr.  Bigelow  here  refers  to 
"  atrocities  that  never  existed  1  " 

The  American  Academy  of  Medicine  includes  within 
its  membership  men  who  are  as  well  informed  as  any  in  the 
medical  profession.  At  the  sixteenth  annual  meeting,  held 
in  Washington  four  years  ago.  Dr.  Theophilus  Parvin,  one 
of  the  professors  in  Jefferson  IMedical  College  of  Phila- 
delphia, gave  the  Presidential  address.  Speaking  of  physi- 
ologists, he  says  that  there  ars  some  "  who  seem,  seeking 
useless  knowledge,  to  be  blind  to  the  writhing  agony  and  deaf 
to  the  cry  of  pain  of  their  victims,  and  who  have  been 
£:uiltv  of  the  most  damnable  cruelties  without  the  denunci- 
ation  by  the  public  that  their  wickedness  deserves  and.  die- 
mands  ;  these  criminals  are  not  confined  to  Germany  or 
France,  but  may  be  found  i)i  our  own  country. ''  Is  this  the 
statement  of  an  "agitator.^"  President  Parvin  graduated 
as  a  physician  some  years  before  Dr.  Porter  was  born, 
and  I  fancy  that  he  knows  of  what  he  speaks.  And  that 
physiological  experimenter  who,  defending  the  utility  of 
vivisection,  forgets  or  denies  the  existence  of  atrocity,  may 
be  on  dangerous  ground.  Cases  have  been  known  where 
merciless  occupation  has  induced  an  atrophy  of  the  sense  of 
pity  ;  and  its  first  symptom  is  unconsciousness  of  cruelty, 
and  blindness  to  abuse. 

II.  But  quite  as  strange  as  any  assertion  in  this 
"  plain  statement  of  the  whole  truth  "  is  the  implied  sugges- 


12 


n 


Does  Scioice  Xecd  Sccircy  f 


tion  that  abuse  is  impossible  because  everything  is  so  openly 
done  !     ''These  loud  outcries  to   put  an  end  to   the  frightful 
scenes    daily    enacted   within    the    open    doors  of  the  most 
enlightened    institutions    of     learning,"— surely    there  is   a 
false  impression  conveyed  by  these  words  which  their  writer 
should    hasten    to    correct.      "  IVit/ini  the  open  doors!  "     To 
whom  are  the  doors  of  the  physiological    laboratories  open  ? 
Why,  no  feudal   castle    of    the    middle  ages  was  ever  more 
rigidly  guarded  against  the  entrance  of  an  enemy  than  physio- 
logical laboratories  are  secured   against  the  admission  of  un- 
welcome visitors.     To  some  of  the  largest  laboratories  in  the 
United  States,  no  physician  even,  can   gain    entrance  unless 
personally    known.       If    the    Bishop    of   Massachusetts  and 
the  editor  of    any  leading  newspaper    in    the  city  were  to 
apply  for  admittance  at  Professor  Porter's  laboratorv  durin^ 
a    vivisection,  would  the  doors    swing  open  as    to  welcome 
guests  ?     Would  they  be  invited  to  come  again  and  as  often 
as  desired,  without  previous   notification?       I  commend   the 
experiment.       Of  course  a  certain  degree  of  this    seclusion 
is   necessary  and  wise.     That  which  I  criticise  is  the  implied 
denial  that  any  secrecy  exists  and    this  reference  to   "open 
doors."     And  if  doubt  still  lingers  in  the  minds  of  any   who 
read,  a  conclusive  experiment  will   not    be  dif^cult   to   make. 
Let  him  but  knock  at  these  ''open  doors"  when  vivisection 


is  ijomir  on, 


III.  We  are  informed,  too,  by  these  scientific  author- 
ities that  by  so  simple  a  method  as  "  a  scratch  on  the  tail 
of  an  etherized  mouse"  and  subsequent  treatment,  "the 
priceless  discovery  was  made  which  has  at  length  banished 
tetanus  from  the  list  of  incurable  disorders."  That  is  an 
unscientific  statement  simply  because  it  is  untrue.  Tetanus, 
or  lockjaw,  was  never  in  "the  list  of  incurable  disorders  " 
—  if  uniform  fatality  is  meant;  and  it  certainly  has  not 
been  taken  out  of  the  list  by  any  "priceless  discovery" 
whatever.  Consult  Aikin,  Wood,  Fagge,  Gross  —  consult 
any  medical  authority  whatever  of  ten  years  ago  —  and  you 
find  the  recoveries  from  tetanus  averaged  at  that  time  from 
ten    to   fifty-eight   per    cent,   of    those    who   were   attacked. 


Does   Science  Need  Secrecy  ? 


Now,  what  mio-htv  chansfe  has  been  wrou2;ht  bv  the  "  orice- 
less  discovery } "  Well,  I  take  up  the  Londoji  Lancet  of 
Aug.  10,  1895,  and  I  find  an  English  physician  tracing  "all 
procurable  published  and  unpublished  cases  of  tetanus 
treated  by  anti-toxine,"  and  they  number  just  thirty-eight, 
of  which  twenty-five  were  recoveries  and  thirteen  were 
deaths.  I  take  up  the  New  York  Medical  Record  for  Aug. 
24,  1895,  and  I  find  a  correspondent  stating  that  he  "can 
discover  in  the  recent  medical  literature  but  six  or  seven 
cases  in  all  where  anti-toxine  or  tetanine  has  been  used 
successfully,  and  they  were  all  by  foreigners."  To  call 
that  a  "priceless  discovery,"  which  is  not  in  general  use 
today,  which  in  four  years  has  made  no  better  record  than 
this,  and  with  which  the  report  of  hardly  a  single  cure  can 
be  found  in  American  medical  annals  within  the  last  five 
years,  —  is  that  a  scientific  statement.'*  Is  it  worthy  of  the 
reputation  of  men  who  allowed  it  to  go  forth  to  the  world 
backed  by  the  eminence  of  their  names  1 

IV.  "It  is  asserted,"  says  Professor  Porter,  "that 
living  animals,  without  narcotics,  helpless  under  the  control 
of  poisons  which,  it  is  alleged,  destroy  the  power  to  move 
while  increasing  the  power  to  suffer,  are  subjected  to  long, 
agonizing  operations,  in  the  hope  of  securing  some  new 
fact,  interesting  to  the  scientific  mind,  but  without  practical 
value."  This  is  one  of  the  most  curious  and  ingenious 
sentences  I  have  ever  read.  Its  inaccuracy  depends  on  only 
two  words,  "  without  narcotics."  No  critic  of  vivisection 
ever  made  use  of  those  words  in  anv  such  statement  ;  and 
I  respectfully  challenge  Professor  Porter  for  reference  or 
quotation.     It  cannot  be  given. 

But,  if  instead  of  the  words  "without  narcotics," 
Professor  Porter  had  written  "  without  anaesthetics,"  then 
he  would  have  made  a  precise,  accurate  and  true  statement 
of  what  undoubtedly  has  been  charged.  Could  any  reader 
imagine  that  such  a  charge  was  true,  and  that  it  might 
exactly  apply  to  some  operations  carried  on  in  the  labora- 
tories of  Harvard  Medical  School  ^  "  Helpless  under  the 
control  of  poisons  which  destroy  the  power  to  move,  while 


H 


Docs  Science  Xced  Secrecy  f 


increasing  the  power  to  suffer,"  writes  the  physiologist,  in 
seeming  amazement  at  the  mendacity  that  could  coin  such  a 
wicked  lie  !     Yet  that  statement  is  entirely  true.     The  na,me 
of  that  poison   is  curari  or  woorara  ;   the  orthography  is  by 
no  means   fixed.     "  Woorari,"  says  Dr.  Ott   (who   has  per- 
sonally  made   use  of   it  in    the    physiological    laboratory   at 
Harvard   Medical   School),    "-  is   able   to  render  animals  im- 
movable     .      .      .      by  a    paralysis    of    the    motor    nerves, 
leaving  sensory  nerves  ijitact.''     The  properties  of  this  singular 
poison  have  been  carefully  investigated  by  Claude  Bernard, 
whose  work  on   experimental  science   may   be   seen  at   the 
Boston  Public  Library.     ''Le  Curare,"  he  says,  '' detruit  le 
mouvement,  en  laissant  persister  la  sensibilite  "   (p.  298)  ; 
*' Curare  destroys  the  power   of  movement,    although  sensi- 
bility persists."     Under  the  influence  of  this  agent  the  ani- 
mals   upon    which    the    physiologist    may    be    working    are 
"  exactly    as    if    solidly    fixed    to    the    table,    are    in    truth 
chained  for  hours"  (p.    310).     Does  it  know  what   is  going 
on  ?     *'  When  a  mammal  is  poisoned    by    curari,    its    intelli- 
gence, sensibility  or  will   power  are  not  affected,  but  they 
lose  the  power  of   moving  "  (p.  296).      Do  they   suffer  ?     Is 
it  true,  this  statement    which    Professor    Porter   tells    us  is 
"asserted,"  but  which  he  does  not  —  except  by  inuendo  — 
deny,  that  animals  are    "helpless   under  control    of   poisons 
which    destroy    the    power    to   move,    while    increasing    the 
power   to  suffer?"       Well,  Claude   Bernard    was  one  of   the 
greatest  physiologists  of  this  century,  and   he  shall  tell   us. 
Death  by  curare,  he  says,  although  it  seems  "si  calme,  et  si 
exempte    de   douleur,  est    au    contraire,    accompagnee    des 
souff ranees,   les  plus  atroces  que  I'imagination  de   I'homme 
puisse  concevoir," — sufferings  the  most  atrocious  that  the 
imagination   of   man    can  conceive  I     "  In    that  corpse  with- 
out  movement  and  with    every   appearance  of   death,  sensi- 
bility and  intelligence  exist  without  change.     The  cadaver 
that  one  has  before  him  Iiears  and  conipreJiends  vvJiat goes  on 
about  Jii})i,  and  feels  vcJiatever  painful  impressions   zoe  may 
infliety    (p.    291)      Is  an    animal    ever    *■'  curari  zed''    in    the 
Harvard  Medical  School  ?     W^e  shall  presently  see. 


Does  Science  Need  Secrecy  ? 


15 


V.  Throughout  the  entire  manifesto  the  word  "  nar- 
cotics"  is  constantly  used  apparently  as  a  synonym  for 
"  anaesthetics  ;"  we  read  for  instance  of  "a  rabbit  narco- 
tized with  chloral,"  a  "  narcotized  dog,"  etc.,  but  not  once  of 
an  "anaesthetized  "  animal.  Let  us  see  exactly  what  these 
terms  indicate. 

In  the  physiological  laboratory  five  different  substances 
are  largely  employed  for  producing  certain  effects  in  ani- 
mals used  for  experiment.  Of  curare  I  have  just  spoken. 
Chloroform  and  ether  are  known  as  "anaesthetics;"  that 
is,  agents  which,  pushed  sufficiently  far,  produce  a  degree  of 
the  most  absolute  insensibility  to  pain.  But  the  trouble 
with  these  anaesthetics  in  the  laboratory  is  their  liability  to 
cause  the  sudden  death  of  the  animal  experimented  upon  ; 
and  this  is  often  most  annoying  and  inconvenient.  The 
temptation  therefore  is  great  to  substitute  for  these  anaes- 
thetics certain  "narcotics  "  which  create  a  degree  of  torpor, 
though  they  do  not  prevent  pain.  Opium  (or  morphia)  and 
chloral  are  the  agents  thus  used.  An  animal  treated  with 
either  may  be  said  to  be  *' narcotized."  But  is  the  creature 
thus  narcotized,  sensitive  to  the  pain  of  cutting,  for  ex- 
ample.^ Take  opium.  Claude  Bernard,  the  great  French 
physiologist,  asserts  that  sensibility  exists  even  though  the 
animal  be  incapable  of  movement  ;  "  il  sent  la  douleur,  mais 
il  a,  pour  ainsi  dire,  perdu  I'idee  de  la  defense ; "  he  feels 
the  pain,  but  has  lost,  so  to  speak,  the  idea  of  defending 
himself.  Do  surgeons  use  morphia  to  prevent  the  pain  of 
a  surgical  operation  .^  Or  take  chloral.  It  is  a  narcotic  ;  it 
tends  to  produce  sleep.  Is  it  an  anaesthetic  .^  Dr.  P'arqu- 
harson  of  St.  Mary's  Hospital  says  in  his  "  Guide  to  Thera- 
peutics "  (p.  195)  :  "  Recent  observation  goes  to  show 
\.\\2XcJdoral  is  in  no  sense  a  true  ancBsthetic.  .  .  .  Chloral 
having  no  influence  over  sensory  nerves,  has  no  power, /ev 
se,  of  allaying  pain."  Dr.  Wood  of  Philadelphia  seems 
disposed  to  think  that  "  in  very  large  doses"  chloral  will 
produce  insensibility  to  pain  ;  but  he  adds  that  unless  the 
amount  employed  be  so  large  as  to  be  almost  poisonous, 
"this  anaesthesia  is  in  most  cases  very  trifling." 


\6 


Docs  ScuiiCi    Xccd  Sccrccv  ? 


F'or  use  in  the  physiological  laboratory,  the  dose  for  a 
rabbit  is  fifteen  grains,  or  one  gramme.  What  shall  we 
say  of  most  painful  experiments  upon  rabbits,  '*  lightly 
chloralizeci  "  with  one-tenth  the  ordinary  dose?  Such  inves- 
tigations zucro  made  by  Professor  Porter  himself,  at  the  Har- 
vard Medical  School,  and  zvitJiin  the  last  two  years. 

VI.  And  this  brings  me  to  a  point  upon  which  I  am 
loth  to  touch,  since  it  would  seem  to  involve  the  most  posi- 
tive contradiction  of  statements  made  by  scientific  men  of 
the  highest  authority.  Speaking  in  the  plural  number  for 
his  five  associates,  Professor  Porter  has  said  of  vivisections 
causing  pain,  that  "such  investigations  are  rare.  None 
sucJi  have  been  jnade  i)i  the  Harvard  Medical  School  zvithiu 
our  knozvledgei"  This  assertion  has  been  widely  copied, 
and  is  almost  universally  believed.  The  Boston  Transcript 
doubtless  echoed  the  sentiment  of  the  public  when  it 
declared  in  its  editorial  columns  that  "  the  character  and 
standing  of  the  medical  men  whose  names  are  given  as 
responsible  for  this  explanation  to  the  Boston  public  forbid 
any  questioning  of  its  statements  of  facts."  What  is  the 
value  of  authority  if  one  may  assume  to  disbelieve  in  a  case 
like  this  }  Here  is  the  assertion  of  six  scientific  teachers. 
P'or  the  general  public,  nothing  would  seem  to  remain  but 
unquestioning  acceptance,  and  implicit  belief. 

But  a  great  English  thinker  has  said  that  doubt  is  the 
very  foundation  of  science,  since  "  without  doubt,  there  would 
be  no  inquiry,  and  without  inquiry,  no  knowledge."  In  the 
interests  of  scientific  truth,  I  venture  here,  to  suggest  doubt 
rather  than  credulity.  We  have  an  assertion  which  is  either 
true  or  false.  I  doubt  its  truth.  I  affirm  that  evidence 
exists  that  experiments  have  been  made  m  Harvard  Medical 
School  under  the  following;  circumstances  : 

I.  Animals  have  been  "  curarized''  and  in  that  con- 
dition vivisected.  Curare  is  not  an  anaesthetic,  but  simply 
prevents  the  animal  from  moving,  while  remaining  entirely 
sensible  to  [)ain. 


Does  Science  Need  Sccrecv 


17 


2.  Animals  have  been  ''very  lightly  narcotized"  and 
in  that  condition  vivisected.  There  is  no  evidence  that 
animals  ''lightly  chloralized  "  are  insensible  to  pain. 

3.  In  the  majority  of  published  accounts  of  experi- 
ments, there  is  no  mention  whatever  of  anaesthetics  being 
used.  In  a  few  instances  only,  there  is  reference  to  the  ad- 
ministration of  ether  before  the  preliminary  cutting,  often 
followed  later  by  use  of  curare, 

4.  The  majority  of  these  published  investigations,  so 
far  as  I  have  been  able  to  discover,  relate  to  curious  ques- 
tions in  physiology,  and  have  no  perceptible  relation  to  the 
treatment  or  cure  of  human  ailments. 

P^or  proof  of  these  statements  I  refer  to  the  published 
accounts  of  various  experimenters  themselves,  concerning 
their  own  investigations.  Most  of  them  may  be  found  in 
somewhat  rare  volumes  entitled,  "Collected  Papers, 
Physiological  Laboratory  of  Harvard  Medical  School.". 

I.  Dr.  Oit  ox  the  Action  of  Lobelixa.  "The 
number  of  my  experiments  was  six,  and  all  were  made  on 
rabbits.  .  .  .  Into  the  left  jugular  had  been  bound  a 
canula,  through  which  the  poison  was  injected  toward  the 
heart.  (Exp.  i.)  As  the  injection  of  the  poison  caused 
struggling.  .  .  .  /  used  curare  to  paralyze  the  motor 
nerves.  (Exp.  II.)  Rabbit,  curarized,  vagus  irritated. 
(This  experiment  lasted  thirty  minutes.)  P^-om  another 
series,  we  may  quote  the  Exp.  VHP  Dog  ;  vagi  and  sym- 
pathetics  cut  ;  artificial  respiration,  etc. 

"The  above  experiments  were  made  in  Professor  Bow- 
ditch's  laboratory  at  Harvard  Medical  School."  There  is  no 
mention  of  anaesthetics. 

2.  Dr.  Ott  ox  the  Action  of  Thebain.  "In  all 
cases  of  poisoning  by  thebain,  the  functions  of  the  sensorv 
nerves  remain  unimpared  till  death,  as  convulsions  are  al- 
ways excited  by  touch,  up  to  that  period."  (p.  5.)  "  I  have 
made  use  of  the  beautiful  method  of  Brown-Sequard  in  cut- 
ting of  the  action  of  the  poison  on  the  lower  segment  of  the 
spine,"    etc.     "The   experiments    on    the    circulation    were 


iS 


Docs  Science  Need  Secrecy  f 


twent\'-six    in    number   and   were   nuicle  on   rabbits.     . 
Artiticial     respiration   was     kept     up,      .     .     .      Cin-air    was 
used."     Dr.  Ott  makes  no  mention  of  an:estheties. 

''It  is  well-known,"  says  Dr.  Ott,  "that  the  irritation 
of  a  sensorv  nerve  eauses  an  excitation  of  tlie  vaso-motor 
centre,  which  is  indexed  by  a  rise  of  pressure.  The  follow- 
ing experiment  was  made  :  Lud wig's  gimlet  electrodes 
were  screwed  into  the  atlas  and  occiputal  bone  (the  skull  of 
a  rabbit)  for  direct  irritation  ;  vagi  cut  ;  curare ;  sciatic 
nerve  prepared  ;  vaso-motor  centre  irritated  through  a 
sensorv  nerve  three  seconds  ;  directlv  irritated  for  eleven 
seconds."  The  entire  experiment  lasted  twenty-five  minutes; 
the  pressure  rose  from  150  to  186  and  19S.  Dr.  Ott  adds  : 
"As  indirect  irritation  always  produces  a  rise  of  pressure, 
tJie  scjisory  ncivcs  and  tJic  conductors  of  tJicir  impressions 
arc  not  paralyzed''  (p.  12).  Will  some  one  asseit  that  this 
was  a  "  painless  "  experiment  ?  Where  was  it  done  ?  "The 
above  experiments  were  made  in  the  physiological  laboratory 
of  Professor  Bowditch  at  the  Harvard   Medical  School." 

3.  Dr.  Walton  ox  the  Epiglottis.  Case  IX.  "Dog; 
epiglottis  excised  ;  watched  six  days  ;  coughed  at  almost 
every  attempt  to  eat  or  drink.  Case  X.  Large  dog;  epi- 
glottis excised  ;  observed  twenty-one  days  ;  choked  in  swal- 
lowing liquids  and  solids  at  every  trial."  "The  experi- 
ments were  performed  in  the  laboratory  of  Harvard  Medical 
School."  A  dog,  strangling  in  all  attempts  to  swallow^  food 
for  a  period  of  three  weeks  can  hardly  be  said  to  undergo 
"a  painless  experiment." 

4.  Dr.  Hooper's  Experiments.  "The  following  ex- 
periment was  made  in  order  to  ascertain  whether  an  upward 
movement  of  the  cricoid  cartilage  was  necessarily  associated 
with  increased  capacity  of  the  larynx."  Small  dog  ;  cura- 
rized  ;  artificial  respiration  ;  pharynx  plugged  ;  a  cord  tied 
around  the  head  and  jaw  in  front  of  the  ears  to  compress  the 
cotton  and  the  passages  leading  upward.  Trachia  divided  ; 
a  tubulated  cork  secured  in  upper  end.  "It  may  be  ques- 
tioned certainly  how  far  an  experiment  of  this  kind  can  be 
applied  tc<  the  living  human  larynx,  or  with  what  logical  jus- 


Docs  Science  Need  Secrecy  f 


19 


^M 


tice  we  can  draw  conclusion^  from  it."  "The  experiments 
recorded  in  this  pajicr  were  performed  in  tiie  physiological 
laboratory  of  Harvard  Medical  Scliool."  Of  anotiier  >eries 
of  ninet}'-four  experiments  upon  nine  different  do^s,  it  is 
stated  that  thev  were  etherized  *' durini;-  the  earlv  Dart  of 
the  operation."  If  one  desires  to  see  the  picture  of  a  dog 
"thoroughly  etherized  or  chloralized,"  fastened  immovaL)iV, 
its  throat  cut,  and  its  larynx  dissected  out  and  tied  up  with 
a  string  —  an  experiment  from  the  physiological  laboratory 
of  Harvard  Medical  School — let  him  consult  one  of  Dr. 
Hooper's  papers. 

5.  Vaso-motor  Experiments  upon  Frogs,  by  Dr. 
Ellis.  "  All  the  frogs  were  f//n?;7':r.'/.  .  .  .  The  sciatic 
nerve  laid  bare  and  cut  in  the  upper  part  of  the  thigh."  Dr. 
Ellis  tells  us  that  "  many  frogs  were  used;  "  that  "different 
frogs  vary  greatly  in  their  susceptibility  to  different  forms  of 
electrical  irritation  ;  "  that  "  each  animal  is  a  law^  unto  itself ;  " 
that  "  the  individual  peculiarities  of  different  frogs  and  the 
varying  conditions  to  which  they  are  subjected  add  perplex- 
ing elements  to  the  problem  ;  "  that  "  very  delicate  apparatus 
was  employed;"  that  in  some  instances  a  "curious  result 
was  obtained  by  striking  the  abdomen  rapidly  for  a  short 
time,  causing  the  force  of  the  heart-beats  to  much  dimin- 
ish ;  "  that  sometimes  the  little  creature's  heart  becomes 
"  enormously  swollen  with  blood,  as  shown  by  the  great  rise 
in  the  lever  ;  "  that  shocks  were  "given  once  everv  second  "' 
in  certain  cases,  and  tiiat  "  very  beautiful  records  cari  be 
taken."  No  doubt ;  no  doubt.  All  this  may  be  interesting 
to  the  physiologist  ;  but  what  practical  results  were  obtained  .^ 
"  W^e  cannot  believe,"  says  the  Harvard  manifesto,  "that 
such  inquiries  are  ever  taken  without  .  .  .  the  conviction 
that  the  benefit  to  humanitv  vvill  far  outwei2:h  whatever  suf- 
fering  they  may  cause  to  the  animals."  These  are  beautiful 
words  !  Let  Dr.  Ellis  state  the  results  of  his  experi- 
ments in  his  own  way  :  "  The  results  of  our  experiments 
point  to  the  existence  of  a  vaso-dilator  as  well  as  a  vaso- 
constrictor mechanism  in  tJie  frog !''  That  is  all.  The 
"benefit  to  humanity"  was  about  as  much  as  would  come 
from  the  discoverv  of  a  silver  mine  in  the  moon. 


20 


Does  Science  Need  Secrecy  ? 


6.  Dr.  Bowditch's  ExPERniEXT^  ox  the  \\\so-^roTnR 
Xerve>.  "After  some  preliminary  experiments  on  other 
animals,  it  was  ciecicled  to  use  cats  in  this  research,  since 
adult  cats  vary  less  than  dojj;s  in  size,  and  are  much  more 
vigorous  and  tenacious  of  life  than  rabbits  or  other  animals 
usually  employed  in  physiological  laboratories.  The  latter 
point  is  tuic  of  considerable  importance  in  experinieiits  ex- 
toidiii;^  over  seveial  Jiours.  The  animals  were  ciirari.:ed 
and  kept  alive  by  aititicial  respiration,  while  the  pherpheric 
end  of  the  divided  sciatic  nerve  wxas  stimulated  by  induction 
shocks,  varying  in  intensity  and  frecjuency.  .  .  .  The 
experiments  were  so  prolonged  that  it  seemed  important  to 
:^ive  to  the  air  thrown  throucrh  the  trachial  canula  into  the 
lungs  a  temperature  as  near  as  possible  to  air  respired 
through  the  natural  channel.  .  .  .  '' The  cat  to  be  experi- 
mented upon  was  first  etherized  by  being  placed  in  a  bell- 
glass  with  a  sponge  saturated  with  ether,  and  then  secured, 
*'  the  head  being  held  in  an  ordinary  Czermak's  rabbit- 
holder.  The  sciatic  nerve  was  then  divided.  In  some  cases 
the  cat  was  allowed  to  recover  from  the  effect  of  the  ether, 
and  the  experiment  postponed  some  days  ;  in  others,  a  half- 
per-cent  solution  of  curare  was  put  into  circulation  while 
the  animal  was  still  etherized."  (The  effect  of  the  curare 
would  be  to  render  the  animal  motionless,  after  recovery 
from  the  ether;  it  has  no  other  use.)  In  all,  there  were  909 
observations  made  upon  "  about  seventy  cats."*  In  one  ex- 
periment "a  tetanic  stimulation  was  applied  for  fifteen  min- 
utes to  the  sciatic  nerve.  The  result  was  a  constriction 
steadilv  maintained  durin5>:  the  continuance  of  the  irritation." 
If  there  were  any  results  for  ''benefit  of  humanity"  in  these 
investigations,  they  are  not  recorded.  These  experiments 
were  made  at  Harvard  Medical  School ;  and  I  submit  that 
they  were  by  no  means  "  painless." 


*  In  the  Bo<to)i  TriUisrript  of  Feb.  lO,  i^^>,  the  Dean  ot  Harvard  Metlical  ^cliool 
was  reporteii  as  dcnyinir  that ''at-  were  used  for  vivi^ecti'in,  ami  .is  .itliriniiis^' that  although 
connected  with  t'ne  >chooI  since  his  Lrraiiuution  he  liad  '■  never  seen  or  heard  of  a  cat 
being  in  the  building."  It  is  indeed  ^-t^ange  that  the  t'.une  of  Dr.  Bowditch's  researches 
upon  these  '■  seventy  cats  "  did  not  even  reach  hi.>  associate  in  the  same  building. 


Docs  Science  Need  Secrecy  ? 


21 


OX   A  ERVES.     These 

uic     iaij^Tatory     of     Harvard 
riie    animals    were    kci-t    under    the 


a  1 )'"''' 


7.  Dk.  Bowditch's  Experiments 

were  made  iijion  c. 
Medical  School." 
intluence  ot  a  dose  of  a///??;r  just  strong  enough  to  })revent 
muscular  contractions  ;  while  artihcial  respiration  was 
maintained,  and  the  sciatic  nerve  constantly  subiectcfl  to 
stimulation  sufiiciently  intense  to  produce  in  unpoisoned 
animals,  a  tetanic  contraction  of  the  muscles.  In  tills  wav 
it  was  found  that  stimulation  of  a  nerve  lasting  from  one 
and  a  half  to  four  hours  (the  muscle  being  prevented  fiT)m 
contracting  by  curare)  did  not  exhaust  the  nerve."  The 
foregoing  quotation  is  from  an  address  given  before  the 
American  Association  for  Advancement  of  Science,  August, 
1886  —  nine  years  ago.  If  any  great  "benefit  to  human- 
ity" has  resulted  from,  them,  it  has  not  yet  been  made  |nib- 
lic.     Were  these  experiments  "painless  .^  " 

8.  Dr.  Ernst's  Researches  into  Raiues.  In  the 
"American  Journal  of  Medical  Sciences"  for  April,  1887, 
there  appears  an  account  of  certain  investigations  into 
the  nature  of  rabies  and  hydrophobia,  made  by  Dr.  Harold 
C.  Ernst  of  the  Harvard  Medical  School.  Some  thirtv- 
two  rabbits  were  inoculated  Vvdth  rabies,  and  all  of  them 
died  of  this  terrible  disease.  Without  touching  upon  the 
question  of  utility  in  this  particular  instance,  I  submit  that 
bv  his  own  account  of  these  investi2:ations,  the\'  were  b\-  no 
means  "  painless." 

9.  Experiments  oe  Proe.  Porter  on  tiii:  Simxal 
Cord.  In  the  "Journal  of  Physiology"  for  April  6,  1895, 
ai)pears  a  long  and  elaborate  article  on  the  "  Path  of  the 
Respiratory  Impulses,"  by  Professor  William  Townsend 
Porter,  of  the  Laboratory  of  Physiology  in  the  Harvard 
Medical  School,  the  author  of  the  preceding  manifesto. 
Taken  in  conjunction  with  his  assertion  regarding  painful 
vivisections  that  "nonesuch  have  been  made  in  Harvard 
Medical  School  within  our  knowledge,"  this  paper  would 
seem  to  offer  a  very  curious  and  significant  illustration  of 
scientific  forgetfulness.  The  object  of  Professor  Porter's 
experiments  was  the  confirmation  of  a   purely    physiological 


22 


Docs   belt  lie c  Xctd  Stcrccy  ?' 


hypothesis  :  one  which  had  no  reference  whatever  to  the 
cure  or  treatment  of  human  ills.  His  researches  embraced 
at  least  sixty-eight  experiments,  and  full  details  of  fifteen 
are  2:iven  in  this  essav.  In  seven  of  these  fifteen  experi- 
ments  —  all  involving  most  painful  mutilations  —  light 
doses  of  morphia  or  chloral  were  administered  instead  of 
anaesthetics  ;  in  one  experiment  the  dose  is  not  given,  and 
in  another  there  is  no  mention  of  any  "  narcotic  "  of  any 
kind.  Even  when  ether  was  given,  it  was  not  as  a  rule 
used  throughout  the  experiment.  Some  examples  will  be  of 
interest  ;  the  italics  are  mine. 

'*  I  have  separated  the  cord  from  the  bulb  in  eight  rab- 
bits and  six  dogs,  all  fully  grown.  .  .  .  Artificial  respir- 
ation was  kept  up  a  long  time.  .  .  .  The  animals  were 
all  very  UgJitly  narcotized.'' 

Exp.  I.  Dec.  19,  1893.  ''The  fourth  ventricle  was  laid 
bare  in  a  large,  lightly  cJiloralizcd  rabbit,  and  the  floor  of 
the  left  side  of  the  medium  line  burned  away  with  small 
hot  glass  beads.  Respiration  continued  on  both  sides  in 
spite  of  repeated  cauterizations." 

Exp.  II.  Dec.  15,  1893.  "Most  of  the  left  side  of  the 
floor  of  the  left  ventricle  of  a  rabbit,  UgJitly  cJtlorali-j.ed,  (not 
over  0.1  2;.),  was  burned  away."  {Tliis  was  one-tent Jl  the 
usual  dose  of  cJiloral.) 

Exp.  XXIII.  Feb.  27,  1894.  Dog  narcotized  with 
morphia.  Cervical  cord  exposed  its  entire  length  ;  severed 
at  the  sixth  cervical  vertebra,  and  the  posterior  roots  of 
the  cervical  nerves  cut.  (An  exceedingly  painful  experi- 
ment.) 

Exp.  LXVI.  Nov.  20,  1894.  Rabbit,  ''lightly  Jiarcot- 
izcd  \s\\.\\  ether."  Left  phrenic  nerve  "was  seized  near 
the  first  rib  and  torn  out  of  the  chest."  .  .  .  "  I  have 
made  such  experiments  on  thirteen  rabbits  and  one  dog, 
and  the  result  has  ahoays  been  the  same^  A  beautiful 
encrravine  drives  the  respiratory  curve  of  this  rabbit,  "the 
left  phrenic  nerve  of  which  had  been  torn  out.  .  .  .  ''The 
stars  denote  struggling !' 


Does  Scicjice  Need  Secrecy  f 


23 


ExD.    LI.     ALiv   ;,   1804.     ''At    10. 


J 


:>   a 


middle-sized  dog 
received  0.2  g.  mor[)hia.  Half  an  hour  later,  the  lett  half 
of  the  spinal  cord  was  severed.  .  .  .  Animal  being 
loosed,  showed  a  paralysis  on  the  left  side.  .  .  .  At 
4.30  the  dog  was  bound  again  and  the  abdomen  opened." 
Why  was  the  dog  "bound  again  .^ "  No  mention  of  "nar- 
cotic" or  anaesthetic  during  further  steps  of  the  experi- 
ment. 

Exp.  XXV.  Mar.  3,  1894.  Dog;  given  0.15  grammes 
morphia  sul[)hate  :  tracheotomized,  spinal  cord  severed  at 
sixth  cervical  vertebra  ;  artificial  respiration. 

Exp.  XLLX.  May  i,  1894.  "At  10  a.  m.  the  leftside 
of  the  spinal  cord  of  a  rabbit,  narcotized  with  ether,  was 
cut.  .  .  .  At  4  p.  M.,  5>3  hours  after,  breathing  was 
bilateral.  ...  On  opening  the  abdomen  .  .  .  dia- 
phragm   was   once   more  exposed    and   cut   in   two   pieces." 

.  .  .  (No  mention  of  anaesthetic  or  narcotic  during 
latter  half  of  experiment,  "  5)2  hours  later.") 

Exp.  LI  I.  May  4,  1894.  Spinal  cord  of  rabbit  nar- 
cotized with  ether,  cut  on  left  side.  .  .  .  Seven  hours 
later  he  was  in  good  condition  and  kicked  vigorously  as  he 
was  agaiji  put  on  the  board.  The  abdomen  opened  in  the 
median  line  .  .  .  phrenic  nerve  was  now  cut,  etc." 
There  is  no  mention  of  narcotic  or  anaesthetic  during  the 
latter  part  of  the  operation,  "seven  hours  later"  when  the 
rabbit,  kicking  vigorously,  "  was  again  put  on  the  board," 
to  have  its  abdomen  opened. 

Exp.  LVI.  May  14,  1894.  Rabbit,  etherized  and  trache- 
otomized. Spinal  cord  cut;  artificial  respiration;  "The 
narcotic  was  stopped.  On  turning  the  rabbit  and  opening 
the  abdomen,"  etc.  Why  was  not  the  abdomen  opened 
before  "the  narcotic  was  stopped  V 

Exp.  LXI.  Nov.  8,  1S94.  The  right  half  of  the  spinal 
cord  of  a  full-grown  rabbit  was  severed  .  .  .  the  phrenic 
nerve  cut  .  .  .  artificial  respiration,  etc."  There  is  no 
mention  whatever  of  either  narcotic  or  ancesthetic  being 
used  in  this  experiment. 


24 


Does  Science  Need  Secrecy  ? 


"Other  experiments  couhJ  be  added,  but  the\'  seem  unncc- 
es>arv,"  savs  Professor  Porter.      W'c  ni^ree  vvitli  him. 

"  »■■■  o 

There  are  few  laboratories  in  Europe  better  equipped  for 
vivisection  than  the  scene  of  ail  these  ex[)eriments.  In  one 
of  his  works,  Dr.  Ott  pays  a  tribute  to  the  inventive  genius 
of  Prof.  Henry  P.  Bov/ditch  of  Harvard  Medical  Schoob 
who,  it  seems,  has  contrived  a  new  device  for  holding:  immov- 
ably  the  head  of  an  animal  to  be  vivisected.  "It  consists 
of  a  fork-shaped  iron  instrument,  the  points  of  the  fork 
united  by  an  iron  bar  .  .  .  which  is  passed  behind  the 
canine's  (teeth)  and  b6und  fast  by  a  strong  cord  which  is 
fastened  over  the  jaws.  When  the  iron  rod  is  fastened  to 
the  prongs,  the  handle  is  inserted  into  the  screw-sliding 
points  of  the  upright  rod  of  a  Bernard  holder,"  in  which 
device  certain  straps  prevent  the  dog  "  from  retracting  his 
nose."  But  how  can  a  dog  retract  his  nose  if  insensible? 
Why  should  he  wish  to  retract  his  nose  if  he  is  suffering 
nothing.^  ''I  sometimes  fear,"  said  Dr.  Theophilus  Parvin 
in  his  address  before  the  American  Academy  of  Medicine, 
''  that  this  an^-esthesia  is  frequently  nominal  rather  than 
real  ;  else  why  so  many  ingenious  contrivances  for  confining 
the  animal  during  operations,  contrivances  that  are  not 
made  use  of  in  surgical  operations  U[)on  liuman  beings.^" 

These  were  Boston  vivisections.  They  were  not  done 
thousands  of  miles  away  in  some  distant  luiropean  laboratory, 
but  here  at  home.  Should  they  have  been  left  in  the  quiet 
secrecy  of  physiological  literature.^  Then  assuredly  their 
existence  ought  not  to  have  been  so  explicitly  denied. 

What  judgment  are  we  entitled  to  pass  upon  this  mani- 
festo.^ Was  it,  indeed,  wdiat  it  claimed  to  be  —  ''a  plain 
statement  of  the  whole  truth  ^  " 

No.  A  "statement  of  the  whole  truth"  would  not  have 
carefully  mentioned  "a  scratch  of  the  tail  of  an  etherized 
mouse,"  and  made  no  reference  to  other  investigations  of 
infinitely  greater  import  carried  on  in  their  own  laboratory. 
A  statement  of  the  whole  truth  would  not  have  spoken  of 
*Mong-drawn  lists  of  atrocities  that  never  existed  " — deny- 
ing in  one  sweeping  sentence  some  facts  as  certain  as  any  in 


Does  Science  Need  Secrecy  f 


25 


histnrv.     A   staiemciit  of  tlie  vvhole  truth  would  not  have 

referred  to  "  narcotxs  "  as  tiuiugli  liicy  were  identical  with 
*' an.rsthetics  ; '"  It  woukl  not  iiave  iett  hitkleii  the  use  and 
purpose  of  curare :  it  would  not  have  rcierred  to  "open 
doors."  when  there  are  no  open  doors;  it  would  not  have 
proclaimed  to  the  public  as  a  "priceless  discovery"  \or  the 
cure  of  tenanus,  an  agent  of  which  not  five  cases  of  success- 
ful employment  in  this  country  can  be  found  in  inedical 
literature.  And  above  all,  a  plain  statement  of  the  whole 
truth  would  never  have  declared  that  no  painful  viviscctir^n 
had  been  made  in  Harvard  Medical  School  "within  our 
knowledge,"  in  the  face  of  the  evidence  1  have  given  in  this 

paper. 

I  am  not  an  anti-vivisectionist,  for  I  believe  in  the  prac- 
tice, when  it  is  rigidly  guarded  against  all  abuses,  limited 
to  useful  ends,  and  subject  to  public  criticism  and  the  super- 
vision of  the  law.  But  I  cannot  believe  that  science  ever 
advances  by  equivocation  or  gains  by  secrecy.  If.  m  the 
opinion  of  scientific  experts,  certain  phases  of  vivisection 
must  be  kept  from  the  world's  judgment  and  criticism  by 
evasion  and  suppression  of  truth,  then  I  fear  the  time  may 
come  when  society  will  questioii  the  expediency  of  ah  such 
methods,  from  higher  considerations  than  those  tiiat  rdlect 
man's  relations  to  the  animal  world.  For  science  can  exist 
without  more  vivisection  ;  but  there  nre  some  things  without 
whicli  society  itself  cannot  exist. 


Many  readers  of  t lie  preceding  pages  iiiay  zois/i  lo  J: lU'ic  pre- 
cisely icJiat  the  Plarv'ird professors  affirmed.  Tlieir  )nauiftSto 
is  therefore  reprinted  in  full.  It  will  be  of  advantage  to  ccui- 
pare  it  zvith  the  views  of  a  man  far  more  eminent  in  the  medi- 
cal profession  than  any  of  them,  and  for  many  years  connected 
with  the  same  Harvard  Medical  School.  An  extract  from  the 
address  delivered  before  the  Massachusetts  Medical  Soci- 
ety by  Dr.  Henry  J.  Bigelow,  late  Professor  of  Surgery  in 
that  institution  is  tJierefore  added. 


(From  the  Boston  Evening  Transcript.  July  13^   1^95-) 


CONCERNING    VIVISECTION. 


BY 


WILLIAM    TOWNSEND    PORTER,    M-  D., 

Ass't  F'rofessnr  <  .f  Phvsiolnyv.  Harvard  Medical  Schoul. 


rTin    loiinwiNc,   statement     is  made   ai    vnv.  suggestion   of   I)r 
IL   P.    nowDnvH.   Dr.   W.  T.  Cunv  ilman.   Dk.   W.    F.   WnrrxEV.   Dk. 

C.  S.  MiNOT  AND  Dr.  li.  C  KrNM-  i>ROFESSOKs  IN  THE  HaRX  AKH 
MeDU  A!.  SCIK.OL,  IN  ANsWER  Tn  MANY  KE^^IESTS  FnK  INEoR^E^TION 
WITH   KECARD    TO    EXREREMENT ATiON    UN    LIVING     ANEMALS.] 

Readers  of  the  daily  prints  are  aware  that  a  few  misinformed 
individuals  are  making  a  persistent  effort  to  bring  al)oiit  a  popular 
agitation  against  the  experimentation  on  living  animals.  Ihe 
newspaper  letters  and  other  communications  put  forth  by  these 
persons  dispute  the  necessity  of  vivisection,  arurming  that  the 
knowledge  secured  by  this  means  is  not  essential  to  the  progress 
of  biologv,  and  therefore  without  substantial  value  for  medicine, 
a  deparnuent  of  general  biology  on  which  the  public  welfare  and 
the  happiness  and  prosperity  of  every  citizen  depend. 

It  is  charged  that  experimental  studies  of  the  functions  ot 
Uving  animals  have  no  purpose  >ave  the  gratihcation  ot  an  igimble 
ambition,  or  the  satisfaction  of  an  idle  and  vicious  curiosity.'  It 
is  asserted  that  living  animals,  rc7///<v//  narcotics,  helpless  under 
the  control  of  poisons  which,  it  is  alleged,  destroy  the  power  to 
move  while  increasing  the  power  to  suffer,  are  subjected  to  long, 
agonizing  operations  in  the  hope  of  securing  some  new  fact,  inter- 
esting to  the  scientific  mind  but  without  practical  value.  The 
cruelties  practiced  by  vivisectors  are  paraded  in  long  lists,  with  the 
assurance  that  they  are  taken  directly  from  the  published  writings 
ofthe  vivisectors  themselves,  and  distressing  pictures  are  drawn 
of  the  work  of  eminent  professors  in  great  universities.      In  short, 

^^^7but  -^ome.     In  an  address  delivered  boA-re  the  American  Academy  of  Medi- 
cine in  .S.A  Dr.  Gould,  (the  present  editor  of  the   PHiLAOELrniA  Medical  JorKN.L.) 
admitted  that  '«  the  greatest  harm  is  done  true  Science  bv  men  ^vho  conduct  cxpernn.n.. 
\    ,,nlr  in   the  interest  oj   canity r     To  whom  dul  Dr.  Gould  reler:     U  ^v.u.l   .e 

interesting?  to  know. 


28 


Does  Science  Need  Secrecy  f 


Does  Science  Need  Secrecy? 


29 


an  .a--;iuizcd  ciYuri  is  ni.ikin-  to  persuade  the  uninformed  that 
men  who  spend  their  ]ive>  m  iayni^  ih,  b.oad  and  deep  founda- 
tion, nn  uhich  alone  a  rational  medicine  can  rest  are  wantin-  in 
^^='^'''^'"  humanity,  and  that  the  medical  profession,  whose  work 
It  i>  to  lessen  tile  >uiierin-  in  the  world,  looks  with  indilTerence  ...n 
useless  and  truly  revdtin-  cruelties  J^^u-  bcpre  its  i^cry  evcs.^ 

It    ]s    true  tliat  the  evident  exaggeration  of    these  charges   will 
aiunc  discredit  them  with  many  who  have  no  special  knou^edge  of 
^^'''   P^'^^^^-^'^''^^  ^^    hercely    attacked,   and    wlio    therefore    caimot 
percive  that  ///:'  K,:apnus  of  tncsc  a-iiators  arc  -arblcd  facts.  doKniri'-Iit 
perversions,     an  J    nus/caJn^^    cAccr/^ts    from   professional    writini^s 
bevond  the  comprehension  of  the  untrained.       It   is  true  that   the 
P^*^^^'^'  "^^'^^^  ^>^^'  ^'^'^y  be   persuaded  that  teachers    in    medicine 
''■''■y  '-^^  mercy  toward,  dumb  animals  than  men  of  other  callings. 
^^"^  >'^^  '^^^^^  reiterated  charges  of  cruelty,  t/icsc  /am; //sts  af  at^a- 
citir<  that  ncccr   existed,  these  loud  outcries  to  put  an    end   to    the 
frig/itfut  scenes  daily  enacted  7aithin  the  aj^cu    dajrs  of  the    most   en- 
lightened  seats  of  learning.    al).urd   though    thev   be,    do    positive 
harm.      'JIk-  least  of  the  evil  that  they  publicly  'attack    the    char- 
acter of  investigators  and  teachers  in  the  medical  profession  ;   the 
greatest,   that  they  seek  to  destroy  the  freedom  of  learning,  and 
to   make  impossible  that   patient  search    for   fundamental'^ruths 
which  has  raised  medicines  from  the  slough   of  empiricism  to    the 
level  of  an  applied  science.      It  is  the  duty    of    medical    men    to 
meet  these   mischievous   attacks  by  a  1  i.aix    statkmext   of  the 

WHOI.K  TRflli. 

Experiments  on  living  animals  mav  be  divided  into  three 
classes.  In  the  tirst  class  may  be  placed  those  experiments  in 
which  the  animal  is  narcotized  before  the  operation  is  be-un  and 
IS  killed  while  still  insensible  to  pain.  This  class  includc^s  almost 
all  vivisections  in  physiology,  /.  ,.,  almost  all  experiments  which 
determine  directly  the  functions  of  living  organs,  and  almost  all 
pharmacological  experiments,  those  which  determine  the  action 
of  remedies  on  living  organs.  An  example  is  the  cuttin-  of  the 
pneumogastric  nerve  in  the  rabbit,  fully  narcotized  wit^li  choral 
in  order  that  the  action  of  this  nerve  upon  the  respiration  maybe 
studied.  •' 

P^,nh*'^■^^''''''"''  '"  '^"'  ^^^''''  '''^  "°'  '"  '*'^  original.     They  are  herein  employed  not  for 

emphases,  but  merely  to  indicate  certain  affirmations  and  sui^gestions  which  are  .nc. 

or  untrue,  and  to  which  the  especial  attention  of  the  reader^  directed  ""'' 


The    second    class  consists   of    experiments  in  which  the   ope- 
ration is  made  during  fun  unconsciousness   ami   the   animal    then 
allowed  to  recover.      The    follnwino;  illustrations   will  m.ike    plain 
the  pur[)ose  of  such  work,      In    a   narcotized  dog   an    opening    is 
made  tlirough  the  abdominal    walls    into  tlie  stomach    and  a  short 
silver  tube  inserted.      The  narcotic  is  stopped.      In  a  fe^'-  days  the 
wound  heals    completely.      The   pain    of    the   wound  is   usually  so 
slight  that  even  the  appetite   of   the    dog    i.    nut    altected.       A>ry 
exceptionally  the  wound  takes  an  unfavorable  course.       In    such 
cases,  the  dog,  if  seen  to  l)e  suffering,   is    killed.       This    opening 
into  the  stomach  enables  the  })hysiologist  to  determine  with  much 
accuracy  the  digestibility  of  foods,  the  nature  and   the   amount  of 
absorption  from  the  stomach,  the  length  of  time  that  food  remains 
ill  this  organ,  the  effect  of  remedies  upon  its  functions,    and  manv 
other  matters  of  the  first  importance.       A    second    illustration    is 
found  in  the  experiments    of   the  pathologist.       A  narc(;tized  rab- 
l)it  is  inoculated  with  the   virus  of  hy(lroi)hol)ia  and  the   .vmpt^)ms 
of  the  disease  thus  induced  are  carefully  noted.       d'he  knovded2:e 
thus  secured  enables  the    pathologist   to    decide    whether    a    dog 
which  has  been  killed  after  biting    several   persons  in  a  parox\-srii 
of  supposed  madness  was  really  rabid.  Iftlie  dog  was  mad  indeed, 
the  inoculation  of  an    animal   with  a  small    portion    of    the    do^'s 
spinal  cord  brings    on   the   previously    determined    characteristic 
symptoms  of  the  disease.      The  fact    of    rabies  is  thus    made    cer- 
tain, and  there  is  still  time,  so  slowb-  does  the    rabies   develo])    \\\ 
the  human  species,  to  save  the  lives  of  the  bitten    persons   b\-    in- 
oculation with  the  attenuated    virus.       Vet    another    illustr:U.inn. 
The  bacteriologist  ;;/^?XY'jr  a  scratcli  in  tin:  tail  of  an  etherized    nic'use^ 
touches  the  scratch  with  a  wire  covered  with  the  germs  of  tetanus 
(lockjaw),  and  learns  the  course  of  the  disease  in  this  animal.   He 
then  endeavors,  by  the  injection   of  various  substances,   to  arrest 
the  fatal  march  of  the  disease.     It  was  in  this  way  that  the  price- 
less discoi'cry  loas  ?7iade  udiicJi  has  at  length    Ininis/ied  tetanus  from 
the  list  of  incurable  disorders. 

The  third  class  of  vivisections  is  that  in  which  no  narcotic  is 
given.  Many  operations  require  no  aUcTsthetic  because  they  inilict 
little  or  no  pain.  An  example  is  the  injection  of  diphtheria  toxine 
into  horses,  in  order  that  the  serum  of  their  blood  may  be  used  to 
destroy  the  diphtheria  bacillus  in    the    very    tissues   of  the    sick. 


i 


V 


J'- 


Dofs  Snnict-  Xc-tu/  Sccircv'^ 


Oiher  operations  of  this  cla.s  .h  cause  pain.  Painful  vivisections, 
^vhen  made  at  all.  are  made  for  the  sake  of  determining-  functions 
that  are  temporarily  su^pended  l)y  narcotics.'    Here  triuh  is -ained 

at  the  expense  of  sulYerin-  because  there  is  no  other  way.   ^    Such 
invesiigatcaic  arc  rare.      Xvic  sudi  hare  been  made  i,i  the' Harvarf 
Medical  Schnoli^'if hi n  our  hnoiuledgc.   We  cannot  ])elieve  that  such 
inquiries  are  ever  undertaken  /;/  any  uurcrsi/y   without    tlie    most 
careful  consideration  of  their    probable    value  and    the   conviction 
that  the  benetit  to  humanit}'  wdl  far  outweigh   whatever    suUering 
they  may  cau^e  to  tiie  animals  emploved. 
_/^  ^^  asserted  that    vivisection  is  nut   necessary.      This  we  deny. 
Vivisection  is  the  unavoidable  consequence  of    two    incontn.A-ert- 
ibie  propositions  ;   the  l^rst.  that  there  can  l)e  no    adequate  knowl- 
edge of  the  whole  without  adequate  knowledge  of  the   parts  which 
compose  the  whule  :  the  second,  tlnit  the  functions  of  the  conq)lex 
organs  which  compose  the   higher   x  ertebrate.    cannot    be    clearlv 
made  out  by  the  study  01  dead  organs  or   bv    the    observation    r^f 
the  non-vivisected  animah      It   would  be  easier    to  create  the   sci- 
ence of  strategy  from  observations  on  dead  soldiers  than  to  repro- 
duce the    present    knowledge  Concerning    the    circulation    of    the 
blood  irom  a  study  uf  the  dead   blood-^■essels.      Whole    series    of 
phenomena  are  hidden    alike  from  the  student  of    lifeless    tissues 
and  from  the  outside  investigator  who  confines   himself  to  man  or 
t!ie  non-vivisected  animal.      Thus,  the  work  done  bv  everv    organ 
^''  ^^'^  ^''"^y  ^^^l^^-nds  on  tile  quantity  uf  blood  ^^ith  which  i't  is  siip- 
plied,  and  this  depends,  other  things  being  equal,  on    the  pressure 
^'  ^^^^  ^'''f-  ^^-'^-^   -^^  ^'terie^,      Xo    means  exist   ot    measuring 
^*^'-;^'^^^"->'  ^^''-'  pJt^^sure  of  the  blood  in  men  or  non- vivisected  ani- 
"''''■      *  '''^>'  "-'^^^^^  ^'^^  measuring  apparatus  i.  (:.)nnected   directlv 
v.ith    the   bL,od-vesseIsof  the  animal  can  any  certain    knowledge 
C'.ncerning  one   ot   the    most   important   factors  in  the   life   of   the 
organism  be  secured.      :50  the   fundamental   problem  of  the  distri- 
bution of  the  blood  can  l.e  soi\-ed  only  by  vivisection. 

Instances  of  the  practical  vahie  o'f  the  knowledge  gained  by 
vivisection  are  ahnost  numberless,  ddie  discoverv  of  the  restrain- 
ing action  of  the  pneumogastric  nerve  upon  the  heart  disclosed  a 
previously  unsuspected  attribute  of  nervous  tissue.  fhrc7.'  a  search- 
ing light  far  iufa  the  yiaom  that  still  enshrouds  the  higher  functions 
or  the  brain,  and  left  ar  mcdacealde  unrh  cu  pracHcal  medicine. 
i  his  discover}-  was  solely  the  fruit  of  vivisection.      It   is   now  but 


Docs  Scicnct   Xccd  Secrecy? 


31 


twenty-live  years  since  the  physiologist  Hitzig  stimulateo  certain 
areas  on  the  exposed  brain  of  a  narcotized  dog  and  observed  tiiai 
each  stimulus  caused  a  jiarticular  group  of  muscles  to  contract. 
This  experiment  h:^?,  giver  a  mighty  impulse  X.o  the  diagnosis  of 
cerebral  disease,  has  opened  the  almost  superstitii)usiy  dreaded 
brain  to  the  surgeon's  knife,  and  has  rescued  many  who  once 
were  thought  beyond  the  reach  of  art.* 

It  is  not  to  be  disputed  that  the  certain  cure  of  any  sick  man 
depends  on  the  accurate  determination  -f  his  disease,'-  It  cannot  be 
denied  that  a  clear  conception  of  the  normal  functions  of  a  jvirt  is 
the  necessary  basis  for  the  recognition  of  the  aljuormaiii}  of 
which  constitutes  disease.  It  follows  that  the  cure  of  disease 
must  be  founded  on  the  knowledge  oX  tiie  normal  (unctions  ol  liie 
bodv.  It  has  been  pointed  out  that  tliis  knr)\\ledge  has  been 
jiained  and  must  continue  to  be  gained  largelv  from  experiments 
on  living  animals.  Vivisection  is  therefore  an  iiuiiS|)ensable  aid 
to  tlie  practice  of  medicine  and  tlie  progress  of  medical  science, 
and  an  indispensable  agent  m  the  ]-)reser\  ation  of  the  public 
health, 

Crueitv  is  the  intentional  iniiiction  of  unnecessary  paiu.'^  By 
far  the  irreater  number  of  \-i\  isections  cause  no  real  suffering,  be- 
cause  the  animals  employed  are  made  insensible  to  i^aia.  The 
occasional  vivisections  in  wiiich  narcotics  are  not  used  because 
thev  temporarily  sus|)end  the  functions  to  be  studied  are  not 
cruel.  The  pain  thev  miiict  is  necessary  to  the  better  knowledge 
c-f  the  tunctions  of  the  body  and  necessary  therefore  to  the  better 
preservation  of  the  lives  of  men  and  of  domestic  animals.  Count- 
less multitudes  t)f  animals  are  slaughtered  daily,  without  narcotics, 
to  furnish  fc^od.  This  is  imt  thought  cruel.  Other  animals  are 
mercilessly  hunted  down  because  their  furs  keep  oiT  the  cold.  Even 
this  is  not  thought  cruel.  Yet  the  professional  scientist,  highly 
educated,  carefully  trained,  laboring  with  small  material  reward 
for  the  advancement  ot  learning  and   public  good,    is   held    up    to 


*  The  reader  hb.ould  not  fail  to  note  ihe  intentional  ir.aefinileness  of  the  fine-sounding- 
phrases  cuij. loved  in  this  paragraph  :  "given  a  mighty  impulse;"  "threw  a  searching 
liiil.t  I'.ir  into  tlie  gloom, '"  and  ''  lelt  an  ineffaceable  mark  on  practical  medicine."  These 
phrases  have  no  meaning  except  to  suggest  achievements  in  practical  medicine  that  can- 
not be  more  clearly  defined  because  they  have  no  existence.  In  an  address  made  before 
The  New  York  State  Medical  Society,  Jan.  29,  1S96,  Dr.  M.  Alien  -tarr  i^ive  the  statis- 
tics oi  operations  lor  brain  tanior  -o  f.ir  as  recorded  up  to  Unit  yearn  He  pointed  out 
Ihatonlv  about  one  case  in  lourteen  is  open  to  operation;  and  with  the  final  result  of 
operations  for  the  cure  of  epilepsy,  about  which  we  Ireard  so  much  a  short  time  ago, 
he  is,"  exceedingly  disappointed." 


I 


32 


Does  Science  Need  Secrecy  ? 


public  condemnation,  because,  in  the  pursuit  of  those  truths  which 
underlie  die  successful  fig^ht  against  disease,  iic  iimU  it  necesbdiy 
to  study  the  fiitictioiiN  of  unconscious  animals  and  verv,  verv 
rarelv  to  perform 'Ujerations  in  v.iiicii  sutterimr  cannot  whoilv  be 
avoided. 

Tile  st.uutc>  of  the  Commonwcaltii  prescribe  the  penalties  to 
be  inflicted  on  tiio^e  found  p:iiilL\' (jf  crueit\-  to  animals,  and  on 
those  wiio  seek  to  tlisturl)  tlieir  fellou-citizens  in  tlie  pursuit  of 
tiieir  iawfiil  occupations.  Tlie  phy.^iologist  and  the  pathologist 
take  tlieir  .^tand  within  tiie  common  law,  ready  at  anv  time  to  sub- 
mil  to  tlie  impartial  verdict  of  competent  judges  the  method  by 
whicli  they  endeavor  to  teach  and  to  advance  tlie  science  and  the 
art  or  medicine. 


Boston. 


12,  1S95. 


i  RuM    ADDREr?:^    U\    ••MElJicWL   LDL'CATION    IN   AMERICA, " 


READ    BEFORE 


The  Massachusetts  .Medical  Society, 


BY 


Prof.  HEXRY  J.   BIGEl.OW,   l\.   D., 

(PR<)FESSOR  OF  SURGER\']X   HARX'ARI)   I  XU'ERblT V.) 

'•  H(A\-  few  facts  of  immediate  considerable  \'alue  to  our  race 
ha\-e  uf  late  \ears  been  extorted  from  the  dreadful  sulterings 
ot  limnb  .minials.  i^ie  coId-blooJcd  cniclties  Jiow  Diore  and  more  prac- 
ticed under  tfic  auf/iorify  'if  science  .'  * 

The  iiorrors  of  Vivisection  have  supplanted  the  solemnitv, 
tlie  thrilling  fascination,  of  the  old  unetherized  operation  upon 
tile  liuman  sufferer.  Tlieir  recorded  phenomena,  stored  away  by 
tlie  physiological  inquisitor  on  dusty  shelves,  are  mostly  of  as  little 
I're^ent  value  to  man  as  the  knowledge  of  a  new  comet  or  of  a 
Tunuostate    of  Zirconiuaii  :     'lerliai'S    to    be    confuted    next    vear  ; 


Italics  in  this  paper  .are  not  in  original, 


Does  Science  Need  Secrecy  f 


33 


perhaps  to  remain  as  fixed  truth  of  immediate  value,  —  contempti- 
ble, C07npared  with  the  price  paid  for  it  in  agony  and  torture. 

For    every    inch    cut    by  one    of    these   experimenters    in    the 

Quiverinn-  tissues  of  tho  helpless  dog  or  rabbit  or  Cninea-pig,  let 
him  insert  .i  iatioet  one  eigluli  of  an  inch  into  liis  (,)wn  >kin,  and  for 
everv  inch  more  he  cuts  let  hum  advan.ce  the  knicet  another  eighth 
of  an  inch,  and  whene\er  he  seizes,  uuh  ragged  f(;rceps.  a  nerve 
or  s]>inal  marrow,  the  seat  of  all  that  is  concentriited  and  exqui^- 
ite  in  agony,  or  literany  tears  out  ncfccs  t'X  f/ieir  r(h>fsc^  !et  timi 
cut  only  one-eighth  of  an  inch  further,  and  he  may  have  some 
faint  suggestion  of  the  atrocity  he  is  perpetrating  when  tlie 
(iuineaq-jig  shrieks,  the  poor  dog  \ells.  the  iiol:)le  horse  groans  and 

strains ^  the   heartless  vivisector  |)erliaps  resenting    the    struggle 

which  annoys  him. 

Mv  heart  sickens  as  I  recall  the  spectacle  at  Alfort.  in  former 
limes,  of  a  wretched  horse,  one  of  manv  hundreds,  broken  \\\'A\ 
au'e  and  disease  resulting  from  lifelong  and  honest  devotion,  to 
•man's  service,  bound  u.pon  the  Hoor.  his  skin  scored  witli  .1  knife 
like  a  gridiron,  his  eyes  and  ears  cut  out.  ins  teeth  pulled,  his 
arteries  laid  l)are,  his  nerves  exposed  rmd  {)inched  and  -e\ered. 
lii:5  hoofs  pared  to  the  quick,  aiici  every  conceivable  and  fiendish 
torture  inflicted  upon  liinn  while  he  groaned  and  gasped,  iiib  lite 
carefullv  preser\'ed  under  lili^^  continued  and  he;li:-li  torment  from 
earlv  morning  until  afterncKiu  to-r  tiie  j)urpose,  as  was  avowed,  of 
familiarizing  the  pupil  vvith  tiie  rnotious  of  the  animal.  This  was 
surgical  vivisection  on  a  little  larger  scale,  aud  transcends  but 
little  the  scenes  in  ,1  piivsiological  laboratory,  T  have  heaiA  it 
said  that  '  somel)ody  must  do  this.'  I  say.  it  is  needless.  .NAbody 
should  do  it.  W'atcli  the  students  at  a  \  i\usecti(.,)n.  It  is  tiie 
blood  and  suffering,  not  the  science,  that  rnrets  tlieir  breatliless 
attention.  If  hospital  service  makes  young  students  less  tender 
of  suffering,  vivisection  deadens  their  humanity  and  begets  indif- 
ference to  it. 

In  experiments  ujion  the  ner\ous  system  of  the  li\dng  animal. 
whose  sensibility  must  be  kept  alive,  not  benumbed  by  the  Ijiessed 
influence  of  ana-sthesia,  a  prodigal  waste  of  suffering  results  trom 
the  difhculty  of  assigning  to  each  experiment  its  precise  and 
proximate  effect.      The  rumpled  feathers  of   a  pigeon  de|)ri\-ed    of 


*  Vox  illu-tr  itions  of  this  phase  of  vivisection,  see  experiments  of  Prof.  Porter  of  the 

Harvard  Medic. tl  School,  referred  to  in  tliis  pamphlet,  at  foot  of  page  21. 

3 


\ 


J-t 


Does  Science  Need  Secrecy  f 


his  ccrebelluiii  iiia\  indicate  not  bu  inucii  a  specific  action  of  ihe 
cerebellum  on  the  skin,  as  the  mnvQ  probable  fact  that  the  poor 
l)ird  reels  sick.  i  he  rotatory  phenomena,  once  considered  so 
curious  a  rr->uU  ■■.>[  the  renvnci!  oi  a  ct_a'ebral  lolje.  were  afterward 
suspected  lo  proceed  from  the  strnggles  of  the  victim  with  his 
remaining  undamaged  and  uni^dsied  side.  Who  can  say  whether 
a  (bamea-pig,  tlie  pinciiing  of  wiiose  carefully  sensitized  neck 
tlirows  him  into  convulsion^,  attains  this  blessed  momentary 
respite  of  insensibihty  b\-  an  unexplained  special  machinery  of 
the  ner\-ou^  currents,  or  a  sen^.^ibility  too  extjuisitely  acute  for 
animal  endurance  .'  Better  that  I  or  my  friend  should  die  than 
protract  existence  through  accumulated  years  of  torture  upon 
animals,  i.'/iii<r  exi^iisitt'  siijteri?ig  we  caiDiot  fail  to  infer,  even 
thougli  they  may  have  neither  voice  nor  feature  to  express  it. 

If  a  skillfully  constructed  hypothesis  could  be  elaborated  up 
to  the  point  of  experimental  te>t  bv  the  most  accom{)lished  and 
successful  philosopher,  and  if  then  a  single  experiment,  thougli 
cruel,  Would  forever  settle  it.  we  might  reluctantly  admit  that  it 
v-'^s  iur>titied.  Hut  the  in>tinLt>  of  our  common  humanitv  indi"-- 
nantly  remonstrate  against  the  testing  of  clumsy  or  unimportant 
Iiyp otlieses  !)y  {vrocligal  ex|)erimentat!on,  or  making  the  torture  of 
animals  an  exhibition  to  enlarge  a  Medical  School,  or  for  the  en- 
tertainment of  students,  not  one  m  hft\-  of  wliom  can  turn  it  to 
anv  pr-ritabie  account.  'Idle  limit  of  sucl]  pliysiological  experi- 
ment, 111  it5  utiiiOst  latitude,  sliould  be  to  e-tablish  truth  in  the 
hand^  ^a  a  skiiiriii  experimenter,  with  tiie  greatest  econom\-  of 
suitering,  and  not  to  demonstrate  it  to  ignorant  classes  and  encour- 
age tiieni  to  repeat  it. 

i  lie  reaction  whicli  follows  every  excess  7c77/  /;;  //;//''  M/r 
indignantiy  up^n  t/us.  (ditii  tiieii  it  is  dreadful  to  think  how 
many  poor  animals  will  be  scd)jected  to  excruciating  agony  as  one 
INredicai  College  after  another  becomes  penetrated  with  the  idea 
that  vivisection  is  a  part  of  uKjdern  teaching,  and  that,  to  hold 
way  with  other  institutions,  the\\  too,  must  have  their  vivisector, 
their  mutilated  dogs,  their  (;uinea-|)igs,  their  rabbits,  their  chamber 
of  torture  and  of  horrors,  to  ad\ertise  as  a  laboratorv." — From 
address  i'efore  J/assae/iuse//^  Medical  Society,  June  7,  i^j i, ' 


Does  Science  Need  Secrecy  f 


35 


Notes  and  Comments. 

^  p.  2S.     There  is  a  class  of  experiments,  sometimes  involving  extreme 

aiii.1  prolonged  pain,  all  mention  ot  u-liich  this  '- statement  of  the  whole 
truth  "  carefuHv  a\  olds.  Ai  tiie  meeting  of  the  British  Medical 
Association  held  in  August,  iS9<).  \\\v  j>rcsi(ient  ca  tlie  Section  ta  State 
Metiicine,  Dr.  George  Wilson,  LL.  i)..  made 
aHiiNioti  to  the  efforts  of  vivisectors  to  eonceal  trie  Outh 


le    fo!lo\siiig    -cadiing 


'*  J  hioldly  say  theia'  siiouUi  he  s 
perinuauation,      .      .      , 


some    [lause  m  tiic"-e  ruthle 


1    have  PiOl  alh'ec!    m\>t_'!f   h)  iht. 


lines  of  ex- 

\'\\  i-ct  tion- 

ists,  hut  1  (i((//se  mx  profe^si  on  of  mislead  i /i  l;' t  lie  puhh'r  its  to.  the  cruelties 
a)id  lioj-yors  z-jliicli  iUt  pcrpet rati  (t  o/i  anijinil  iffo.  When  it  is  stated 
ttiai  tlie  actual  pain  iruohed  in  these  experniit'nt>  i>  commonly  of  the 
most  trilling  descripticjn.  ///<■/*  is  <!  SUPPRESSION  of  the  iiu  rii.  op  the 
most  pdlpdblc  ki)nP  whieh  coukl  on!\  !)e  ;ua-ounted  tor  at  the  time  by 
ignorance  ot  tiie  actual  !a.c!-.  1  acimil  that  in,  ihc  mere  operation  of 
injecting  a  virus.  wiieth.tT  cultivauoi  or  woA..  ihere  may  be  little  or  no 
laiin.  hut  the  crue!t\'  ch)t^s  not  lie  in  the  oper.itiop.  itself,  which  is  per- 
mitU'd  to  he  perlormed  without  anaesthetics,  Inu  in  the  atajr-effects 
]\'/i<  fhor  SD-calud  foxiK'-.  are  inpectcil  unJcr  th>:  skin  i'lto  fiic  peritoneum^ 
into  tlie  I  ri.nnii ))! .  loiiter  tiie  duia  niaterj  into  'lie  pleiirnl  oiizitw  into  the 
veifiSi  eyes,  or  other  orga7is —  -■//(/  all  -liesc  methods  arc  ruthlessly  prac- 
ticed —  tin  i:  is  loii^^^'diiiixju-out  agouy.  The  aninuil  so  intiocently  ope- 
rated o/>  1)1  a V  It, roe  to  live  days^  zveeks^  or  months,  ivith  no  anaesthetic  to 
assuage  iti^  sufferings,  and  ?iothing  but  death  to  relievei''' 

2  p.  29.  '  i  he  ceiiaiPi  cure  of  any  sick  man  "  has  most  assuredly  never 
been  gained  through  vivisection.  For,  aside  from  a  few  simple  disorders, 
chietly  cutaneous,  there  are  no  "certain  cures"  known  to  medical  science 

Sir  Tolin  1  orhes,  formerly  Physician  to  the  Qiieen,  asserts  :     "  In  the  vast 
majority  oi  ciiseases  the  medical   art.  e\en  wiien  exerting  its  powers  most 

successfullv,  cati   haidly  be  said  to  cure  diseases  at   all."       ("  Nature  and 
An    in    the  Qww  or  Disease."       See   ai&t)   "Modern    Inciuiries."    b\     i>\ 
Jacob   ihgelow.  fonnerlv  a  lu-ofessor  in  ITar\-ard  l'''ni\  ersiiy.J 

^  p.  29.  Cruel!  \  i^  the  itUentional  iaihiction  ot  un justifiable  pain.  To 
accept  the  \ivisectors'  definition  i-  to  oj^er-i  the  door  to  e\a'rv  itu'atriv 
that  tl!e\  declare  "necessary  ''  Notiiin^  ea!i  be  necessary  that  is  ethically 
■iinjustiliahle 


Literature   Coiieernmg   \  ixisectiori. 


Mrtlirai   O-.u'iiions  cotiCesninL:  A'ivisection, 

Is  \  i\-i^celioii   Painful  ?         -         -         -         - 

Scientific  CIiic:inerv  :     Does   it   Pay  -  - 

eonfessions  of  a   \'ivi>cclor,  -         .         - 

Facts  about  Mviseclion.         .         .         -         - 

State   Supervision  of  \'ivisection, 

Dr.   Tlieopliilus   Parvin   on   \'iviseclion, 

Plnsioloff \'  in   our  Public  Schools. 

A  Dangerous  Ideal,       .         -         -         -         - 

The  Bi  utalization  of  ehildhood, 

Shall  Science  Do  Murder  ?  _         .  . 

Opinion^  concerning  Vivisection   in   Schools, 

Abstract  of  Rej^oit  on   \'i vi-^ection   in   Anieiic..  ■' 

Does  Science  Need  Secrecy?   'vi5tli  Thi-usand;,  " 

Report    of    American    lUnnane  Associatioti    on 

Vi\  isection   in   Anierici.  .         -         - 

Ilunian   Vivisection,        ----- 

/vninials'   Rights    and   ^'i\isection    in    ATiierica, 

(Fifth   Tb.ousand    ,  ----- 


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I>iun|)hiets5  etc.;   •.'viil   be  sent,  po^iage  paid,  to   any   address  for  eighty- 
five  cents. 

Address  : 


Humane  Literature  Committee, 

P.  O.  Box    215, 

Providence,  li    I 


HuMAiNE  LITER. 


-«♦^- 


The  American  Humane  Association  was  organized  in  1877,  ^^^  the 
purpose  of  promoting  unity  and  concert  of  action  among  the  American 
societies,  having  for  their  object  the  prevention  of  Cruelty  to  children 
and  animals.  For  twentj-three  jears  it  has  endeavored  to  carry 
out  this  purpose,  principally  through  deliberative  conventions,  held 
annually  in  various  cities  throughout  the  Union,  and  in  Canada.  At 
the  meeting  of  the  Association  in  Washington,  D.  C.,  in  December,  189S, 
it  was  decided  somewhat  to  enlarge  its  field  of  activity',  and  to  make 
the  Association  more  of  an  Educational  force  in  awakening  public 
sentiment  to  the  need  of  various  reforms. 

One  of  the  methods  through  which  the  American  Humane  Associa- 
tion will  aim  to  accomplish  this  purpose  is  b}'  the  systematic  distribution 
of  Humane  Literature.  So  far  as  funds  permit,  it  proposes  to  promul- 
gate the  ideals  of  humane  conduct  in  every  direction  where  necessity 
exists.  Among  the  subjects  regarding  which  it  would  seek  more 
thoroughly  to  arouse  public  sentiment  are  the  abuses  connected  with 
the  treatment  of  domestic  animals;  the  transportation  of  cattle  and  their 
slaughter  for  food ;  the  extermination  of  birds  for  the  demands  of 
fashion;  the  cruelties  of  "sport;"  the  abuses  of  vivisection  when 
carried  on,  as  now  without  State  supervision  or  control;  the  cruelties 
pertaining  to  child-life,  and  above  all,  the  great  and  growing  abomin- 
ation of  Human  Vivisection,  in  the  subjection  of  children  and  others 
to  scientific  experimentation. 

The  extent  to  which  this  work  can  be  carried  out  will  depend  upon 
the  assistance  received.  All  interested  are  urgently  solicited  to  con- 
tribute towards  this  object.  Every  dollar  so  contributed  will  be  devoted 
wholly  to  the  publication  and  dissemination  of  Humane  Literature. 
Should  subscribers  desire  their  contributions  to  be  especially  devoted 
to  any  one  of  the  above  lines  of  this  humanitarian  work,  their  prefer- 
ences will  be  observed. 


Francis  H.  Rowley,  D.  D., 

Treas.   Humane  Literature  Committee, 
No.   163  Winter  Street, 

I^ail  River^  Mass. 


